FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GLENALLEN HILL - PAGE 2

Rod Beck's problems are more mental than physical. Booing Jim Riggleman for the failures of his pitchers is unfair to the Cubs' manager, and the Cubs' farm system is on a par with most other major-league clubs. Those are the opinions General Manager Ed Lynch divulged in an interview about the current state of the Cubs. Q--Rod Beck has been knocked around so far. Are you concerned about his back and his poor start? A--He's fine. You always are concerned, but is it a strong concern?

Ice down the champagne, Cubs fans. There might not be a better time this dismal season to break it open. The Cubs, greedy holders of last place for all but a handful of days this season, continued their bold pre-strike dash for fourth place with an 8-3 victory Friday night over the St. Louis Cardinals. That is, of course, fourth place in the five-team National League Central Division. But, hey, any place above last seems like the dizzying heights for the Cubs. They'll take it. For the second night in a row, the Cubs put a game out of reach by batting around and scoring five runs on six hits in the top of the first inning.

The Cubs announced Wednesday they would allow outfielder Glenallen Hill to go to arbitration this winter. Hill was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in August for outfielder Candy Maldonado. In 31 games with the Cubs, Hill hit .345 with 10 home runs and 22 runs batted in. The Cubs refused to exercise the option they inherited on Hill's contract, but want to keep him and will offer him arbitration. Salary arbitration hearings are set from Feb. 1-21. It's unanimous: Mike Piazza, a 62nd-round draft pick who had one of the finest rookie seasons ever, was unanimously voted National League Rookie of the Year on Wednesday.

It's a problem for the Cubs, this Glenallen Hill situation, a nice problem on the surface but still another equation to be solved in putting together the 1994 team. Going into Saturday night's contest here against the Padres, Hill was batting .354 in the 30 games he has played with the Cubs since being acquired from Cleveland on Aug. 20 for Candy Maldonado. Furthermore, he was hitting the ball with the power of well, er, Barry Bonds. Hill's 29 hits included 10 homers and seven doubles, one of the former and two of the latter in Friday night's 8-5 victory over the Padres.

They all count the same in the standings. A loss at the end of June isn't any more costly than one in April. That's the mathematic reality. The cold, hard truth, though, is the Cubs are in a do-or-die stretch of the schedule. And every loss now brings the season closer to an end. The Cubs have been doing their best to eliminate themselves from competition since Opening Day. And they've done a pretty good job, falling 11 games back of the division-leading Cincinnati Reds. But they are getting serious about it now. Not only did they lose 5-3 Thursday night, but they lost to the Houston Astros, one of four teams ahead of them in the National League Central Division.

By nature, Glenallen Hill is more mellow than mean. But after flubbing a fly ball in the second inning Thursday, the Cubs' left-fielder felt nothing but rage. "I was so mad, I swear I was blind," he said. "Nine out of 10 times when you come to the plate like that, you don't get a hit. But when you do, it's perfect." Hill hit--no, crushed--what might have been the longest home run in the history of Wrigley Field. The ball traveled a conservatively estimated 490 feet before landing on the rooftop of a three-story building at the corner of Waveland and Kenmore Avenues.

`It's no secret that the Cubs have more money than anybody. Why does a team with that kind of financial power not compete? If they wanted to, they could be a mainstay in the playoffs every year.' Glenallen Hill, former Cubs outfielder, on Oct. 27, 2000 With the comment above, Glenallen Hill seemed to speak for so many Cubs fans--from the corporate types in the luxury boxes to the bare-chested guys in the bleachers. Hill's belief has floated around Chicago since the summer day in 1981 when Tribune Co. purchased the team from the Wrigley family for $20.5 million.

Sweet. NICE GOING Bears draft choice Curtis Enis, described by a former teammate as "a great guy until you get to know him," was quoted in the newest Sports Illustrated as saying he committed "adultery" with many women and had "a serious drinking problem," not to mention running up $500,000 of debt from last January to July. But wait. There's more. Enis credits his religious awakening to the controversial Champions for Christ group, but it turns out that Enis lied to the director of CFC about having sexual relations with a woman he met at a car wash.